Lawmakers Look To Restore Cal Grant Funding

Restoring money to California’s college financial aid program is proving to be popular with both Democrats and Republicans in the State Assembly. But even if they agree on the issue, Governor Jerry Brown may not.

Supporters of restoring funding levels to the state's college
financial aid program say it's a financially savvy move. "Cal
Grants" are awarded to low-income students attending public and
private universities in California. The program's budget has been
slashed in recent years.

Democratic Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva is proposing a bill
that would make it easier for students to renew their grants.

"We have to invest in our public
education, particularly in the college level," she says. "Unless we
have that workforce to move California forward with college
graduates in the right majors, we're not doing our job"

Republicans have also gotten on board. Assembly man Mike Morrell
co-authored a bill that would restore Cal Grant funding levels for
students attending private colleges.

"We're finding out a lot of these students on theses Cal Grant
programs at these universities, their families make less than
$41,000 a year," Morrell says.

But just because there's some bi-partisan support in the
legislature for restoring Cal Grant cuts doesn't mean Governor
Jerry Brown will agree. H.D. Palmer is with the Department of
Finance. He says the state can't go on a spending spree just
because the budget is in better shape.

"If we want to continue on a path to be able to stay in
balance," he says, "then we can't undo everything that we've had to
do in the last two years."